We Bought It on Monday

Again, sorry for the lateness here and for the lack of dialogue in this chapter. I figured, I gave you a whole chap of talking last time, so here are some reflections from our two co-owners.

VI.

The days leading up to their eventual meeting on Monday seemed to go slower than normal.

There was a tenseness in the air around the theater that week; while the normal sextet were on speaking terms, there was a more professional aspect to it that Kermit had never experienced before. He knew Piggy had somehow gotten him a reprieve of sorts with the others and he was determined to reward her for that.

How, he wasn’t sure, but he had some ideas.

Despite her assurances that everyone was a bit calmer – and that neither Rowlf nor Gonzo would murder him in his sleep anytime soon – the frog wasn’t exactly feeling that. True, they were talking to him at least, but the same camaraderie that they had before seemed to have slipped through his flippers at some point.

Even Fozzie, of all people, was a bit standoffish with him those final days. He had once told the bear that he was probably the only person that was loyal to him – during that dark days at the end – and now he done the utmost unthinkable thing ever. Complete and total mistrust from the bear who trusted everyone.

Kermit had certainly made his share of mistakes in the past, but this one seemed to be the biggest and most glaring. Even with all the excuses he could come up with didn’t seem to hold any water to what was the ultimate betrayal to the others; it wasn’t as though he lied to them! Okay, he didn’t exactly tell them anything, but really. What would telling them have done in the first place? And in that thinking, Kermit realized that a lot of this was his fault.

If he had told everyone what happened, maybe it wouldn’t have gotten to this; perhaps if he had been truly honest with himself in that Jim’s death hurt him more than he realized, he would’ve gotten a little more time off; maybe if he spent more time showing Piggy how much he really did love her instead of denying it every five minutes, she wouldn’t have left.

Thinking over regrets wouldn’t get him anywhere and he knew it. What was to say that with the film scrapped, the others wouldn’t have left then instead of three weeks later? What if his time mourning his friend never ended, then what? And what if he had done all of the romantic gestures, would Piggy have still stayed? What was to say that she wouldn’t have gone to Paris and met some other guy? What then?

He knew what then – he’d still be in a house, by himself, still saddened and feeling without a friend in the world, that’s what.

Sheesh, when did he become such a cynic?

The only way to go now was up and Kermit was determined to do just that. Sure, his friends were probably barely tolerating him, but so what? Despite his objections to the contrary, the frog had made a promise, to himself and to those that courageously and stupidly followed his dream down the path to Hollywood, and he had kept that promise.

And he would continue to keep that promise.

Even if he had to be the bad guy to do it.

[hr]

Wednesday started off a busy rest of the week for Scooter.

On top of his duties with the theater, he had been hard at work trying to get in contact with his lawyers in terms of how to go about splitting his share of the Muppet Theatre with the others. The entire process reminded him why he had given it to Kermit in the first place and why he had never been interested in business.

Scooter couldn’t say he wasn’t fortunate for it though. Certainly he couldn’t do his job properly if he didn’t know something about the business world and how it operated in sunny California. Luckily with his interest in most things technology, learning the tricks of the trade through an electric sense was suited to him and being quick study and eager learner he was, learning the admin tasks that he needed to keep Kermit on task, Piggy on task, and himself on task was all the better.

Of course, being assistant to the power couple and everyone else in the Muppets was a heck of a lot easier than trying to run all the companies that his uncle had managed to get under his belt. When JP died, as his only living heir, Scooter pretty much got everything and the kitchen sink in the will, including the lot where Muppet Studios was. He had honestly been quite surprised at that, as he had always thought he was somewhat of a burden to the businessman, especially when they didn’t share the same interests.

So for him to read the rather lengthy note his uncle had left for him, dealing everything he had ever done in his life and what he was giving the young Muppet had been a shock. Some of the things in that letter – regarding his parents, the Muppets, and even JP himself – had been an eye opener and something that Scooter was glad he was a bit older to understand and absorb. He had never thought to once thank the mustachioed Muppet for putting him where he was.

As much as he hated this aspect of his life, he wasn’t going to complain too much; that inheritance had made sure he was able to go to the most prestigious of film schools in California, as well as making sure he had a home to live in and food to eat. Not that his paycheck with the Muppets was bad, but shelling out money to what amounted to nearly a hundred crazy cast of characters sometimes didn’t leave enough to pay the bills.

Luckily, JP Grosse was an astute businessman and made sure to keep astute businesspeople around him. He only hired the very best when it came to his businesses and, as Scooter would later learn, only the best when it came to securing a future where Scooter was the only Grosse left. JP had of course been very prolific when it came to his business practices – not only did he invest in companies and buildings, but he had several stocks and trades that were worth millions and billions of dollars. In the whole scheme of things, it was only the Muppets that were the lowest cost he had on the books.

This was of course during their old show days, when production and filming had to be done across the pond and then brought back to the states, but when their first, then second, then third movie hit theaters, their stock hit the roof. Before their eventual demise, the Muppet name was making the Grosse name very wealthy.

Currently however, it didn’t matter how much wealth Scooter had, his patience was wearing thin by the time the weekend rolled around. While his and Kermit’s idea had been quite simple, the process of getting it all done was way more than he bargained for. Every lawyer he talked to wouldn’t let him simply hand over shares of Muppet Studios; in the legal sense of it all, it was an acquisition on his part, for that’s what he was planning on doing – taking over the company from Kermit the Frog.

Even trying to get them to possibly consider that he was actually merging the company into five different hands didn’t come out right, because every lawyer insisted that it was an acquisition and that ‘merger’ was the nicer way of saying he was basically taking back control over his company. Acquisition, he decided, was a better term than what they were using, which was takeover, but even he couldn’t argue against the merits. He was effectively taking over the company from Kermit and while the frog would still have control, it was only partial and split between him and five others.

And no doubt, Scooter would have the ultimate say in what happened.

This was exactly what he didn’t want and was trying to avoid when he first learned that Muppet Studios now belonged to him. He had been too young, too shocked, and frankly, too scared to handle everything that went with his new status of celebrity heir; Kermit had saved him from that by taking the studios, where Scooter was at least aware that the frog would do whatever he could to keep it afloat and well within their grasp.

Kermit’s recklessness in that regard had not only stunned the page, but disappointed him. Admittedly, for those he kept close, they could do no wrong in his eyes and Kermit was one of those people. It wasn’t until the ultimate collapse that Scooter could see the not nice traits that the frog held to him and it was only when he was older, that he realized all of his friends – his family – had bad quirks.

Even he did it! While helpful when he could and should be, Scooter could equally be a bit petty, spiteful at times, and even a bit childish.

This week had been the hardest on him, as well as one that made him grow up just a bit. Kermit hadn’t been in a good place for a very long and it wasn’t hard to imagine the frog at his wits end at trying to keep everyone together when it was clear they were all falling apart. Scooter knew, deep down, that Kermit would never do anything to willingly jeopardize them or their name; the redhead had no doubt let his previous anger cloud his judgment and he had done what he had wanted to do, had wished he had done, the last time he had seen the frog.

But that was all in the past and what mattered now was the present.

Stopping by one of the local coffee shops for his fourth cup that morning, Scooter sat in his car enjoying his beverage before the inevitable. Pulling out his cell phone, he quickly thumbed through his contacts before he found the one he needed, grimacing as he did. He always hated talking to this guy. On the upside, the lawyer had told the staff that if anyone with the last name Grosse called to put it to him immediately, no matter what.

Dialing, he drank the hot liquid, letting it warm his soul before this next conversation left it, he listened to at least four rings before the other line was picked up by one of the office secretaries.

“Julie,” he said. “Andrew Grosse. How are you? Good. Is Sterling in his office by chance? I have something important to discuss with him.”

In the previous chapter, where Gonzo, Rowlf, Fozzie and Piggy are meeting, I had a little trouble at some points keeping track of everyone. While stylistic, in-character dialogue is always fun, would it kill ya to throw in a dialogue tag now and then as a reference point?...just sayin'...

In the previous chapter, where Gonzo, Rowlf, Fozzie and Piggy are meeting, I had a little trouble at some points keeping track of everyone. While stylistic, in-character dialogue is always fun, would it kill ya to throw in a dialogue tag now and then as a reference point?...just sayin'...

Curious where this winds up. Please continue!
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Yeah, I thought about it and then decided with just the regular dialogue. I did throw in names (cause I got a little confused myself!)

And now, seeing as I missed Monday and my Two for Tuesday, here is another quick section of Monday on a Wednesday.

VII.

The following Friday saw a group of well dressed Muppets standing in the living room of the home that belonged to Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy. That afternoon, the six were set to meet with one Sterling Howard, a business lawyer that had once been in the employee and friend with that of JP Grosse; Scooter had mentioned that he was the man in charge of the Grosse estate, which included every building and property ownership that the elder Grosse had bequeath to his nephew.

The younger Muppet had been adamant that everyone not only be on their best behavior, but that they had to dress for success. It was probably the most serious that the group had ever seen of their young friend and in the interest of keeping the peace – and of course, hopefully getting what they wanted – they had of course sided with that fact. Also, in the interest of time, the group decided they would be a united front and arrived together.

Oddly enough, the one person who wasn’t planning on meeting the group was Scooter himself; he had called earlier to say that he would meet them outside of Howard’s office as he had something to take care of first.

Kermit wasn’t exactly opposed to clothing, it was just that he didn’t really need nor wear it all the time. In that regard, the large closet that he was supposedly sharing with Piggy actually consisted of mostly her clothes; while he didn’t exactly wear nor own a ton of clothes, he could cut a dashing rug if need be. The frog wasn’t a suit kind of guy – he didn’t think any of the males of his troupe were – but if he had to wear a suit, he actually preferred a tuxedo.

For today’s ensemble, Kermit had gone with the most minimal and professional dress he could – dark slacks, a dark blue turtleneck, and the dark blazer that Piggy had given him for Christmas one year. It took him all of ten minutes to get dressed; Piggy, of course, never took ten minutes to get dressed. Her ritual had started almost as soon as she had gotten up and so while Kermit was dressed and ready to go, he was instead sitting on the bed watching Piggy go through shirt after shirt to go with the pants that she had changed twice.

As far as Kermit was concerned, she could wear whatever she wanted; there was hardly ever a time in which Piggy wasn’t stylishly dressed in something. For him, of course, she could be wearing an Idaho russet potato sack and she’d find some way to make it stylish. And if her constantly changing clothes wasn’t distracting enough, she was apparently talking to him about…he didn’t even know; he’d been paying more attention to what she was planning on wearing under her shirt than the actual shirt.

“Kermit, are you listening to me?”

“Sure.”

“Really. What did I just say?”

“Something about tires.”

“My eyes are up here, Frog.”

Shaking his head slightly, Kermit managed to narrow his eyes at her. “Not my fault,” he muttered. “You can’t just go around undressing and talking to me at the same time. It’s distracting.”

“For who, exactly?” she asked, crossing her arms across her chest. Or rather, crossing them slightly under her chest, which only served to tease him further.

“Tease.”

“You would know.”

“Piggy,” he sighed. “Will you just pick a shirt already? Everyone else is going to be here in a few minutes. I’m surprised they aren’t sitting in the living room as speak.”

“Perfection,” came her reply, over her shoulder as she had turned back for one last look at perhaps a better shirt than the current maroon that she was wearing. “Dear frog, comes not at a moment’s notice, but with careful dedication and thought.”

Kermit looked at her. “Single life has made you poetic,” he joked. “Gonna have to rectify that.”

“You can be ever so charming when you aren’t a donkey’s behind.”

“I think the word ‘smart’ is supposed to come before that,” he quipped.

Standing, he hovered slightly over her shoulder, or rather around her arm because of their height, and pointed to the blue dress shirt that she had been looking at. “Darlin’” he whispered. “I know you take being Scooter’s protector as seriously as you do matching your underwear to your clothes, but you gotta let him handle this.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Which of course was a lie, if the hesitation in the statement was any indication. It wasn’t that the diva was disputing the fact that she had taken the page under her wing – to the point where Kermit wondered just who exactly the assistant was assisting at times – it was the fact that Piggy was very good, excelled actually, at using her charms to get people on their side.

That probably explained the almost frantic search for the perfect shirt that would showcase one of her, if he did say, most prominent asset.

Kermit of course had always been against her doing such a thing; he had made that point when they had first walked into the office of JP Grosse, to ask him about leasing the theater to them. It had actually started a point of contention between them, not to mention between him and Rowlf and Gonzo, who had been so ever helpful in helping Piggy along in her display.

“I think you do,” he continued. “We gotta trust him.”

“I do trust him!”

“I know you,” he said. “And we all trust him, but especially in this. Look, if it seems as though this lawyer friend of his uncle’s starts to give him any trouble, then with my permission, charm the pants off the guys. Not literally of course, but you know.”

Piggy looked at him for a moment. “I have your permission, do I?” she asked.

“Expressly.”

“Well,” she huffed, though he noted that she did pull out the blue shirt finally. “In that case, I’ll keep it under advisement. I don’t suppose you happened to pick this shirt because we’d happen to match.”

“I happened to pick that particular shirt,” Kermit said. “Because one, I happen to know it looks good on you, despite it being my shirt; two, it matches your eyes; and three, you look good in blue.”

The diva smirked at him. “All good reasons,” she agreed. “And certainly not because the other shirts were slightly see through.”

“Have no idea what you mean.”

“You weren’t saying that an hour ago.”

“Keep that up and you’re gonna make us late,” the frog countered, jumping out of the way from the incoming playful hit that Piggy aimed at him.

Feeling sure she had finally come to a decision on her attire, Kermit left his diva to change and headed out towards the living room. Truthfully, he did partially think that there would be someone waiting for him; their house was pretty much open to their friends whenever they felt like it, though in some cases warnings would need to be issued.

Yay. *Chuckles at the playfulness in this update. And then you have to go and add sometone of seriousness with Kermit telling Piggy to let Scooter handle this lawyer stuff on his own. For some reason, I'm getting more a sixness vibe out of this story than from Six Ball. Then again, that other story isn't as far along as this one, so I'll just wait for you to present the numbers game to us in that other fic.

Yay. *Chuckles at the playfulness in this update. And then you have to go and add sometone of seriousness with Kermit telling Piggy to let Scooter handle this lawyer stuff on his own. For some reason, I'm getting more a sixness vibe out of this story than from Six Ball. Then again, that other story isn't as far along as this one, so I'll just wait for you to present the numbers game to us in that other fic.

Thank you... More please?

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Don't worry, 6 Ball will have the accompanying extra two people to make it the aptly titled title. In fact, the next section will feature the fifth person to show up at the restaurant and possibly the sixth. Ironically, if you count our main friends over at the Theatre, there's your two extras.

There's more coming hopefully when I get home. I really don't want to work on this freelance assignment, but I gotta so...I may give you an extra update tonight. What's up next?

Well, the gang's all there at the meeting of a century, we find out that Gonzo actually has matching pants, and we find out that Scooter's grown up and grown a pair since we last saw him.

Hey G! What about those other stories??

Ah yes, well, let's kill three birds with one post, yes?

6 Ball - a famous celebrity stops by our femme fatale table, while Kermit tries to install some calmness to our resident nerd assist. A sleezy reporter and a huge HUGE revelation!

Motocross - Piggy uses Gonzo's own game against him, plus we see how our two Muppet Motorcyclists ended up in the pokey. And...there's a mystery to be had!

Der wha? But it don't add up. Piggy and Janice and Camilla and Amanda, that's a table of four. Meanwhile, back at the theater... Their respective others, that's another four. So that's eight which brings us back to how the Pool Hall series started, or four couples. So yeah, me confused as to your count. Will you be adding two more ladies to the Unilateral Access of Evil's table? Heh, UAE, I think that's the name for all the big boss bad guys from Power Rangers, United Alliance of Evil. *Keels over at the thought of a table full of Muppet madamoiselles. * Maybe it was the soup that killed him. No no! Soup güd! *Sips some, then keels over too.

Meanwhile, back at the theater... Their respective others, that's another four. So that's eight which brings us back to how the Pool Hall series started, or four couples.

Click to expand...

Now I'm confused.

I'm only counting Kermit and Scooter, which if you add them to our Unholy Trinity of Evil, make six. Where do you get eight? Are you counting Floyd and Gonzo in that? They're gone. They won't be back until 5 ball and yes, they will be prominent there. But not here.

As always, you know when I has something new to post. So here you go, the concluding section to the above.

Glancing at the wall clock, Kermit nodded it was nearly quarter to one and their meeting was going to take place around two. Right as the big hand hit the nine, the doorbell rang twice, signaling their first arrival.

“Come in, Fozzie,” Piggy replied, as she came up behind the frog. He noted that she had decided to add a matching black blazer to her outfit, which accentuated her outfit perfectly.

Of course.

Fozzie, as was his habit, was usually the first to arrive and the last to leave any of their gatherings and he always announced himself by ringing the doorbell twice in succession.

“How’d you guys know it was me?” he asked, once he had opened the door and walked in.

“Intuition.”

“Lucky guess.”

“You are as prompt as ever, Monsieur L’ours,” the diva said, walking over to the comic. Knowing an inspection when he saw it, Fozzie dutifully stood straight while Piggy adjusted the signature polka dotted tied that he had added to decent looking suit Piggy hoped against hoped that he had actually purchased and had not dug out of some trunk in the theater.

“Is that good?” Fozzie asked, confused. He had never understood Piggy’s French before and it seemed she had gotten a lot more proficient in it since living there.

“You pass.”

“Yes!” he exclaimed, doing an arm pump in happiness.

“Now we just have to wait for Gonzo and Rowlf,” Kermit said.

“They were right behind me when I got out of the car,” the comic said. “Wait a minute. What about Scooter?”

“He’s meeting us there,” Kermit added, watching as the door opened to reveal both the dog and stuntman. Rowlf, like Kermit, was perfectly happy in the sans clothing option, but when he did decide to get dressed up, he had a style all his own. If Piggy was their best dressed feminine lead, Rowlf was their male version.

Rowlf had of course decided on the suit option that didn’t require a tie, so he had a rather hip lounge look going for him, especially with the dark blue cabbie hat he had picked up along his travels.

If Rowlf’s style was of the swinging scene, Gonzo’s style was to march to the beat of his own, personal drummer, who didn’t necessarily actually keep beat with the rest of the world. Gonzo had once noted that his choice of clothing could sometimes make Piggy’s eyes revolt in anger to the point where they literally wanted to leave her head.

Gonzo had gone full suit, a nice dark blue that went very well with the blue and grey striped tie that was around his neck. “Of course I match,” he said, his tone set in a way that he thought the pig had lost her mind.

“Are you telling me you have a closet full of matching clothes?”

“Always the tone of surprise,” Gonzo chuckled. “I did own my own business, you know. Meetings, networking, and all that good stuff does require a suit.”

“I had always figured Camilla dressed you.”

“Oh yeah, right,” he laughed. “Half the time she’s trying to undress me…”

“Too much information, Gonzo!” Kermit protested. Why the blue creature insisted on telling the world his more private and intimate secrets, he would never know, but like his perverse pleasure in making Piggy’s eyes bleed from fashion faux paus, he enjoyed shocking whomever he could with whatever he could.

“Aw Kermit,” the daredevil said, throwing a friendly arm around the frog’s shoulders. “It’s not too much information when I’m sharing it with you, cause I love you.” To prove that statement, Gonzo kissed him on the cheek.

“Oh, get off me!”

Things between the two must have smoothed over because Gonzo seemed to be the same goofy, lovable guy he had been in the past. It spoke to their many years of friendship that the two couldn’t be mad each other for long periods of time; it wasn’t in either of their natures to be, especially with their particular group of friends.

“Hey,” Gonzo asked, as he looked around. “Where’s the boy wonder?”

“He’s meeting us over at the lawyer’s office,” Kermit explained. “Said he had something to do beforehand.”

“That sounds ominous,” Gonzo muttered, looking at Rowlf.

The two had been talking about the whole process on their way over, each of them trying getting their frustrations off their chests before needing to come and make a united front for a complete stranger. Their initial anger had of course fizzled out, but there still was that amount of hurt that neither of them thought they could shake off so easily.

They were, of course, both aware that Kermit would and had done anything and everything he could to keep the Muppets afloat, even when everyone and their mothers thought the group insane for attempting what they were doing. As their unofficial spokesfrog, he was at the forefront of who they were and what they were trying to do; as much as he may have denied it, their fans saw him first and the others second.

And it wasn’t that they didn’t understand what he did, it was just that there were times when Kermit should have come to them for help. Even if the group disbanded, they were still friends – still family – regardless and all he had to do was ask and they’d come running, just as they did when the studios were in danger.

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” the frog replied, waving it off. Truthfully, he had also wondered what it was that was so pressing that Scooter needed to take care of it before the appointed time. He had shaken his head, having to remind himself what he reminded Piggy – they couldn’t always fight Scooter’s fights for him and in this case, they needed to trust that he would lead him through the way he had helped them do before.

Kermit had to admit, letting someone else be the head honcho was definitely different and a bit unnerving. And it was a feeling he wasn’t enjoying at all.

Seemingly lost in his own thoughts, he hadn’t noticed that Piggy did what she did best and that was taking when the leader was incapacitated or in this case, heavily distracted; and it certainly wasn’t the first time that the others had taken control when he couldn’t. Maybe he had just been selling them short. The group began to file out, previously having decided that taking one car would be a better recourse than many; that of course didn’t stop Piggy from getting the last word in before they left.

Yes, I was counting Gonzo and Floyd as part of the couples, which is why is helpful you pointed out who should be counted for Six Ball to end up at 6.

This latest half-chapter was nice. Couple of little tweaks here and there, but overall, it helps drive the story forward as the main Muppet Studios Six assemble for their appointment at the lawyer's offices. Thank you, and hope the story keeps getting posted.

I'm only counting Kermit and Scooter, which if you add them to our Unholy Trinity of Evil, make six. Where do you get eight? Are you counting Floyd and Gonzo in that? They're gone. They won't be back until 5 ball and yes, they will be prominent there. But not here.

As always, you know when I has something new to post. So here you go, the concluding section to the above.

Glancing at the wall clock, Kermit nodded it was nearly quarter to one and their meeting was going to take place around two. Right as the big hand hit the nine, the doorbell rang twice, signaling their first arrival.

“Come in, Fozzie,” Piggy replied, as she came up behind the frog. He noted that she had decided to add a matching black blazer to her outfit, which accentuated her outfit perfectly.

Of course.

Fozzie, as was his habit, was usually the first to arrive and the last to leave any of their gatherings and he always announced himself by ringing the doorbell twice in succession.

“How’d you guys know it was me?” he asked, once he had opened the door and walked in.

“Intuition.”

“Lucky guess.”

“You are as prompt as ever, Monsieur L’ours,” the diva said, walking over to the comic. Knowing an inspection when he saw it, Fozzie dutifully stood straight while Piggy adjusted the signature polka dotted tied that he had added to decent looking suit Piggy hoped against hoped that he had actually purchased and had not dug out of some trunk in the theater.

I love when Piggy speaks French. Speaking of that language, I was listening to the music of Les Miserables (whatever that means).

“Is that good?” Fozzie asked, confused. He had never understood Piggy’s French before and it seemed she had gotten a lot more proficient in it since living there.

“You pass.”

“Yes!” he exclaimed, doing an arm pump in happiness.

“Now we just have to wait for Gonzo and Rowlf,” Kermit said.

“They were right behind me when I got out of the car,” the comic said. “Wait a minute. What about Scooter?”

“He’s meeting us there,” Kermit added, watching as the door opened to reveal both the dog and stuntman. Rowlf, like Kermit, was perfectly happy in the sans clothing option, but when he did decide to get dressed up, he had a style all his own. If Piggy was their best dressed feminine lead, Rowlf was their male version.

I love how you describe Rowlf pefectly.

Rowlf had of course decided on the suit option that didn’t require a tie, so he had a rather hip lounge look going for him, especially with the dark blue cabbie hat he had picked up along his travels.

I had only seen Rowlf in his tie in movies. In The Muppets, he did wear a vest. How about that?

If Rowlf’s style was of the swinging scene, Gonzo’s style was to march to the beat of his own, personal drummer, who didn’t necessarily actually keep beat with the rest of the world. Gonzo had once noted that his choice of clothing could sometimes make Piggy’s eyes revolt in anger to the point where they literally wanted to leave her head.

Gonzo had gone full suit, a nice dark blue that went very well with the blue and grey striped tie that was around his neck. “Of course I match,” he said, his tone set in a way that he thought the pig had lost her mind.

“Are you telling me you have a closet full of matching clothes?”

“Always the tone of surprise,” Gonzo chuckled. “I did own my own business, you know. Meetings, networking, and all that good stuff does require a suit.”

“I had always figured Camilla dressed you.”

“Oh yeah, right,” he laughed. “Half the time she’s trying to undress me…”

Oh my gosh! Gina, you write Gonzo very well. Unbeilevable!

“Too much information, Gonzo!” Kermit protested. Why the blue creature insisted on telling the world his more private and intimate secrets, he would never know, but like his perverse pleasure in making Piggy’s eyes bleed from fashion faux paus, he enjoyed shocking whomever he could with whatever he could.

“Aw Kermit,” the daredevil said, throwing a friendly arm around the frog’s shoulders. “It’s not too much information when I’m sharing it with you, cause I love you.” To prove that statement, Gonzo kissed him on the cheek.

“Oh, get off me!”

I knew Kermit didn't like getting his friend Gonzo to kiss him on hsi cheek. Otherwise, wonderful dialogue here.

Things between the two must have smoothed over because Gonzo seemed to be the same goofy, lovable guy he had been in the past. It spoke to their many years of friendship that the two couldn’t be mad each other for long periods of time; it wasn’t in either of their natures to be, especially with their particular group of friends.

“Hey,” Gonzo asked, as he looked around. “Where’s the boy wonder?”

Oh! Gonzo meant "Scooter" the kid with the green jacket. Hehe! Nice!

“He’s meeting us over at the lawyer’s office,” Kermit explained. “Said he had something to do beforehand.”

“That sounds ominous,” Gonzo muttered, looking at Rowlf.

The two had been talking about the whole process on their way over, each of them trying getting their frustrations off their chests before needing to come and make a united front for a complete stranger. Their initial anger had of course fizzled out, but there still was that amount of hurt that neither of them thought they could shake off so easily.

They were, of course, both aware that Kermit would and had done anything and everything he could to keep the Muppets afloat, even when everyone and their mothers thought the group insane for attempting what they were doing. As their unofficial spokesfrog, he was at the forefront of who they were and what they were trying to do; as much as he may have denied it, their fans saw him first and the others second.

And it wasn’t that they didn’t understand what he did, it was just that there were times when Kermit should have come to them for help. Even if the group disbanded, they were still friends – still family – regardless and all he had to do was ask and they’d come running, just as they did when the studios were in danger.

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” the frog replied, waving it off. Truthfully, he had also wondered what it was that was so pressing that Scooter needed to take care of it before the appointed time. He had shaken his head, having to remind himself what he reminded Piggy – they couldn’t always fight Scooter’s fights for him and in this case, they needed to trust that he would lead him through the way he had helped them do before.

Kermit had to admit, letting someone else be the head honcho was definitely different and a bit unnerving. And it was a feeling he wasn’t enjoying at all.

Seemingly lost in his own thoughts, he hadn’t noticed that Piggy did what she did best and that was taking when the leader was incapacitated or in this case, heavily distracted; and it certainly wasn’t the first time that the others had taken control when he couldn’t. Maybe he had just been selling them short. The group began to file out, previously having decided that taking one car would be a better recourse than many; that of course didn’t stop Piggy from getting the last word in before they left.

Rowlf had an even calmer exterior than that of Kermit, able to actively handle the madness that could sometimes sweep the frog up with it. He was definitely what you would call a slow boil – it took an extreme amount of events or issues to cause the dog to get angry at anything.

The heat was currently on.

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I've just started reading this, so I'm behind the times, but that quote up there? Brilliant.

I have to say, I'm all mixed up about what you're doing with Gonzo thus far; he's not an easy character to write, as he's changed so much over his life, but this serious, slightly angry and mean Gonzo freaks me out. I like all your reasons for making him like that, though; the whole Piggy thing (no Camilla?) and his frustration with Kermit's treatment of her is very very clever.

Firstly - Countie, Imma work on this today. I decided that this morning, but it means going back and reading this from the beginning.

Second - welcome Molly Arriba! Thanks for reading my story!

No worries about Gonzo. He has been a pip to write, really.

Aw, gee thanks, lil G!

No probs, yo! The Count there is correct that you need to read the series before getting here, though I'll give you a quick overview (if you missed it at the beginning)

The scene between Gonzo and Kermit in Monday Dinner Date was the inspiration for It Happened on Monday which really should be read as third no matter how much Count Ed would like it to be first. I'm actually surprised he listed it in correct order above.

This is the sequel to IHM, as it's the aftermath of Kermit's decision about the three week production thing.

Anyway, back to Gonzo there - if you've seen Muppets 2011 (which I hope you have), our favorite weirdo was ultra serious in that too. Remember, both he AND Piggy initially said no to coming back; Gonzo was just quicker at realizing that he wanted to come back.

So I took that Gonzo and asked, "why so serious?" and figured he, like Scooter and Piggy and probably everyone else, had just grown up a bit in the harsh, real world of being working class slobs like the rest of us.

Anyway, I'm currently reading, working, and in a webinar but I do have plans to update this hopefully today. If not, take heart as I have a three day weekend coming up!

Molly, if you think that'll take forever, you should try some of the more monumental fics like Lisa TogetherAgain's completed collection, or the Newsie's, Rowlf's or Sadie's Stories series by different authors. And then there's Aunt Ru's main trio of "books" and her magnum Muppetpiece, Kermie's Girl which has appearances by some of us in it.

Anyway, back to Gonzo there - if you've seen Muppets 2011 (which I hope you have), our favorite weirdo was ultra serious in that too. Remember, both he AND Piggy initially said no to coming back; Gonzo was just quicker at realizing that he wanted to come back.

So I took that Gonzo and asked, "why so serious?" and figured he, like Scooter and Piggy and probably everyone else, had just grown up a bit in the harsh, real world of being working class slobs like the rest of us.

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The Muppets 2011 inspired me to become as big a fan I am. You're right, Gonzo was a seriously serious downer before he stripped down and jumped off the Plumbing company roof. See, my favorite Gonzo has always been the loverboy from season three. It throws me off when he's all angsty. Still you write him wonderfully.

The Muppets 2011 inspired me to become as big a fan I am. You're right, Gonzo was a seriously serious downer before he stripped down and jumped off the Plumbing company roof. See, my favorite Gonzo has always been the loverboy from season three. It throws me off when he's all angsty. Still you write him wonderfully.

But wait, what order do I read them in, Miss Gina?

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No worries! Like I said, Gonzo's the kinda guy who doesn't stay angsty and mad for long. And sometimes, when I think I've made him a little too angry, I give him something perverse to say or do. Quite frankly, he reminds me of junior high and high school.

And finally, here's a Monday update on a Saturday! Two days ahead or two weeks late. Let's think of it as ahead, k?

With twenty minutes to spare before their appointed hour, the quintessential quintet arrived at the offices of Sterling Howard, Attorney at Law. For a group that normally geared their craft to that of entertaining, it was surprising how many of them had needed to consult the opinion of a lawyer.

Even stranger than that was that usually, these were criminal lawyers.

Kermit’s personal chauffer of the 80’s robot had driven the group to literal tears as he quoted and made homages to that of the popular culture of the 1980’s. Piggy, who had been sitting in the backseat, least she be near the bot, had even asked Gonzo for his tie just so she could strangle the thing if it didn’t shut up. She completely understood the reasoning behind Scooter wanting to dismantle the thing and she had half a mind to let the boy genius do it.

The offices of Sterling Howard were located in a posh commercial roundabout that consisted of other high end businesses – the strip contained a variety of different attorneys, though on the ends could be spotted a tanning salon, a beauty salon, and that of an insurance agency. Luckily, there weren’t that many people visiting a lawyer on a Friday afternoon, which gave the group the perfect opportunity to park right in front of the office building.

Getting out of the car, Fozzie couldn’t mention the absence of Scooter again, his agitation and worry only heightened by the fact that the younger Muppet wasn’t among them. Kermit was set to relieve the bear’s fears – and his own – when he heard Piggy state that their boy wonder had just entered the parking lot.

One of Scooter’s presents to himself while working at Google was that of a sporty new Mini Cooper S Hardtop. While Scooter had been very privilege, his uncle had taught him the importance of money and the importance of not wasting it; since he had been a child, Scooter hadn’t been too big on spending a ton of money on things unless he really thought he deserved it.

And replacing his beat up car that he been riding in for over ten years was something he thought he needed and deserved.

Mini Cooper wasn’t even that spectacular, he thought, compared to some of the cars he had seen around the state of California and that of Hollywood in general. Trimmed in midnight black with quirky designs on the side, Scooter had gone with the very basic of packages, with the exception of making sure that his navigational systems were the top of technology.

Driving up into the parking lot, he packed his car next to that of the brown colored sedan, turned off the engine, and stepped out. Just as he had told the others, Scooter was dressed for success, wearing a three piece tan suit, black patent leather shoes, and black tie to match. Removing the darker shades he wore whenever he drove, he placed them in their holder before dropping it on the front seat and pulling the regular pair of glasses he normally wore.

“Please don’t,” Kermit sighed. Nodding to his assistant, he asked, “Ready to do this?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Scooter sighed. “Sterling knows what I’m planning to do; I only hope he doesn’t plan on talking me out of it.”

“Why would he?” asked the bear as the group made their way towards the door.

“He’s loyal to my uncle,” Scooter replied. “He obviously is trying to look out for me, but only for my uncle’s sake and not mine.”

The offices of Sterling Howard were relatively big, allowing for a large reception room, complete with receptionist desk and area that provided coffee. Leather chairs were available to seat at least five and the assistant allowed for the others to take those seats while he spoke with the receptionist, giving her his name and expecting to meet Howard at the appointed time.

As he suspected, the receptionist wasted no time in calling her boss through the intercom, having been trained that anyone with the last name of Grosse was to be seen immediately.

And the group didn’t have to wait long, as a human male came out of his office, obviously excited to see the group or at least Scooter. He was of average height, with dark hair that was greying at the temples. “Drew baby!” he exclaimed, seeing his young charge. “I heard you wanted to see him and here you are! And you brought friends! Any friend of Andy’s is a friend of mine! Come on in!”

The group hadn’t missed the way Scooter had grimaced at the introduction nor the way he seemed to drag himself through the doorway.

Sterling Howard’s office was everything you expected for a corporate lawyer’s office to be, complete with small basketball hoop in the corner, at which a Nerf ball sat at its stand. Black leather chair sat behind a large oak desk that held a few pictures, a phone, and several electronic devices, including a smartphone, a tablet, and a laptop.

“Have a seat,” Sterling replied, waving to the chairs that had been placed in front of his desk before taking a seat himself. “When Andy gave me that call the other day, I had to admit I was a little worried; I thought something horrible had happened, just to find out that he’s making an acquisition. I knew some of Johnny had rubbed off on you!”

Sterling laughed hard at that. “Ain’t that the truth?” he chuckled. “Old Pete’s an associate of ours, handles some of the Grosse affairs, you know. Most of the time the lights are on, but no one’s home, you get me?” The others nodded or chuckled, in order to just polite.

“Speaking of home,” h e continued. “Guess who just came home for a visit.”

“Not ringing any…” Scooter started, his tone of voice already annoyed and irritated. Sterling Howard had been trying to set him up with each of his four daughters for years, despite the fact that they either had no interest in him or he had no interest in them.

“Oh wait,” he said. “Did she have braces? Wore pink a lot?”

“That’s her,” Sterling replied, reaching over and turning one of his picture frames around so that they could see what the girl looked like now. The picture held a pretty brunette who was dressed in a rather scandalous black cocktail dress; her waist and hips were slim, but the same thing couldn’t be said about her bust, which seem to need a picture all by itself.

Needless to say, the males in the room couldn’t help but be appreciative.

“She’s…certainly grown up,” Scooter whispered.

“And out,” Gonzo whispered to Piggy, whom he sat to the right off. Both couldn’t help but chuckle at the joke, but managed to compose themselves once Kermit threw a look their way.

“That’s my baby girl,” Howard replied with pride. “Should give her a call, Drew baby, take her out, have a good time. Young kid like you should be out and about.”

“Right,” the page nodded. He always hated having to speak to and spend time with the lawyer. “Back on topic, Sterling…”

“Right, the acquisition…”

“Share expansion,” Scooter corrected. “This is not an acquisition. That makes it sound as though I’m taking over the studios and I’m not.”

“Sure, baby, sure,” Sterling said, winking at the Muppet. “As I said on the phone, you just need to sign the paperwork and I’ll get the ball rolling. No worries, Drew sweetheart. Hey, I got a racquetball game tomorrow, you in?”

“Sterling, can we be a little professional here?”

“Alright, alright,” the lawyer said, holding his hands up in surrender. “I didn’t realize you were serious about this, Andy.”

“Listen, Mr. Howard,” Kermit interrupted. “This is primarily my fault; there has to be a reasonable way in which we can split Scooter’s shares between the six of us.”

“Well, Mr. The Frog,” Sterling began. “I guess we could a silent partnership if that’s what you all want.”

“It is,” Scooter said.

“Fine, fine,” Howard said. “But Andy – and no disrespect to you fine Muppets. My kids love you! – partnerships sucks. Even if you go silent on all of this, that’s still a 100% share divided by six; not a good deal in my opinion. What you should be doing is an acquisition, like we’ve been telling you for weeks now.

“Your uncle left you that lot and everything on it and true, it’s yours to do whatever you want, but think about this, Andy; you break up this company like this and you may never get it back. Now, heaven forbid one of these five were to do something stupid –“

Everyone did their very best to not look at Kermit.

“Now you’ve got bad press on you and you don’t want that,” Howard continued. “I’m just looking out for you, Drew baby. Now here’s what I’ll do – I’ll get the papers drawn up for an acquisition. If you want you can tell the papers it’s a merger, that way it doesn’t look like you’re kicking the frog off his own lot.”

“Gee thanks,” Kermit muttered.

“No offence there, Kermit,” Howard maintained. “But let’s look at the real picture here. Andy here is a corporate billionaire; we gotta make sure this looks good in the press. We don’t want people to think that he’s on the brink; trust me, it’s not good to the stockholders, you know.”

“Alright, that’s it,” Scooter replied, standing from his chair in a huff. For years, he had to sit and take all of the ‘helpful’ advice that his uncle’s people had given him and quite frankly, he was tired of it. That was one of the reasons he hadn’t met everyone at the house.

Scooter’s morning started with him driving over to one the lawyers for Google before seeking out Robert ‘Mase’ Mason, his own lawyer. In both cases, they both advised that he step up and finally take his rightful position as heir to the Grosse fortune. He had been avoiding since his uncle’s death, not really knowing what was going on with the businesses and properties that he now currently owned and ran.

“In case you have forgotten, Mr. Howard,” he began. “My uncle is dead; you and the rest of my uncle’s butt kissing lackeys work for me now. And if I say I want to split my share of Muppet Studios with five other people, then you had better figure out how to get that accomplished.

“I pay you, Sterling, to make sure that the businesses and assets that my uncle accumulated before his death are in good standing and are making money the way they should. In any case, you answer to me, and if you don’t like it, you are more than happy to leave. I guarantee you I can find better people to represent me and my interests than you.”

If the other five Muppets were surprised by Scooter’s actions, it was nothing compared to the look and shock that was displayed on Sterling Howard’s face. Truthfully, he had really never paid the bespectacled Muppet a second glance; he obviously didn’t have the same business inclinations that his uncle did and really, why would he want to hang out with someone like that anyway?

It was only upon JP’s death that Howard realized he’d have to make friends with the little nerd, as he was the central head controlling the businesses.

“Come on, you guys,” Scooter continued. “Obviously, Mr. Howard is unable and unwilling to help us with our request.”

“Wait, wait!” Howard exclaimed. “I was just kidding! Silent partnership? Sure, we can work that! No worries there, Drew baby! I’ll get the papers before you know it!”

“And that’s another thing,” the page continued, looking directly at the lawyer. “My friends call me Scooter and if I really like you, you could probably call me Andrew. But seeing as you don’t fit into any of those two categories, you will address me as Mr. Grosse and only as Mr. Grosse. I am not Andy or Drew baby or even Drew sweetiepie. Understood?”

“Yes…yes sir, Mr. Grosse, sir.”

The others began to stand and file out, though Piggy fought hard to not let a smirk register on her face.

Once out in the reception room, Scooter sighed deeply. “I really hate coming here,” he muttered.

“Really?” Rowlf asked, smirking. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“I hope you haven’t caused more trouble for yourself,” the frog whispered.

“You heard me,” the page replied, shaking his head. “They’re working for me, whether they like it or not and if they don’t like it, they can go. I meant what I said; I have plenty of people who are smarter and have a lot more business savvy than these guys and they’re more than willing to help me out.”

Walking over to the receptionist, Scooter cleared his throat politely in order to get her attention. “Excuse me,” he began. “I hate to interrupt…”

“Oh!” she cried, realizing that the attractive Muppet was speaking to her. “No interruption, Mr. Grosse! Is there something I can help you with?”

“Actually, there is,” he replied, smiling at her shyly. “Could you make sure that Sterling gets that paperwork done for me? It’s kinda important and I hate to take time from you, but…”

“Oh, no worries, Mr. Grosse!” she giggled. “I’ll be sure to keep on him about it.”

“Hey Scooter,” Gonzo interrupted, giving the young girl a smile of his own. “That’s not cool, making her do extra work when I’m sure she has a ton to do already.”

“Well, that’s why I’m paid the minimum wage bucks.”

“Not’s that right,” Rowlf chuckled. “Beautiful girl like you should be rewarded for all the hard work you do around here.”

“Hey Andrew,” Gonzo asked. “Think the stage manager at the theatre would be nice enough to get this lovely lady a free ticket to our show next week?”

“I don’t see why not.”

“Really?” the girl piped up. She loved the Muppet Show! “I love your guys’ show! It’s so funny! Do you really think he could get me a ticket?”

“I will personally make sure of it,” Kermit said. “I have some sway at the theatre.”

“And if that doesn’t work,” Fozzie said. “Just ask for me and I’ll get you in.”

“Oh wow!” the girl gushed. “You guys are so nice! No worries, Mr. Grosse, I’ll make sure that Mr. Howard gets all the paperwork into by next week. I promise!”

The five males smiled at the young girl, causing her heart to nearly stop. “Alright boys,” Piggy replied. “You are disturbing this young woman’s work and I certainly would hate for her to get in trouble because of it. And I assure you, if she gets in trouble, you will be in trouble.”

“Quite right,” Kermit nodded. “Thanks a lot for your help.”

“You’re definitely welcome, Mr. Frog!”

The group said their goodbyes and headed out. “Laid it on a little thick, didn’t you?” asked Piggy.

“Sometimes the best defense is a good offense,” Scooter replied. “I thought you knew that.”

“Surprised you waited till the end there, Piggy,” Kermit said.

“Sometimes, Kermie,” Piggy began. “A master likes to see what her students have learned without interference.”

“So how’d we do, teach?” asked Rowlf.

“Not bad, gentlemen,” she said. “Though Gonzo, I thought you held back a little too much.”